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Malta

HAS ENDORSED THE POLITICAL DECLARATION

Malta was involved in the process to develop a Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and was among the first group of states to endorse the Political Declaration in Dublin in November 2022. In the early stages of consultation, it was among several states who opposed the use of qualifiers, defending the use of the expression “arising from” instead of “can arise”, and welcomed the draft Declaration’s acknowledgement of reverberating effects. 1 At the fourth consultation in April 2022, Malta welcomed the inclusion of schools and educational facilities in Section 3 and underlined the importance of regular training of military personnel and the adoption of national policies and practices intended to protect civilians. 2 

Statements and positions

Matla attended the first international follow-up conference on the Political Declaration in Oslo, Norway in April 2024. 
Malta has on several occasions spoken on explosive weapons in populated areas in multilateral forums. At the UN Security Council open debate on war in cities: on 25 January 2022, Malta welcomed the development of the Political Declaration and called on parties to conflict to avoid the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. 3 Later that year, at the UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians on 25 May 2022, Malta encouraged states to pursue synergies between the Call for Humanitarian Action, the Safe Schools Declaration and the Political Declaration on explosive weapons in populated areas. 4  
As a member of the European Union (EU), Malta has signed onto numerous joint statements condemning the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and the harms it causes to civilians and civilian objects, as well as calling for greater IHL compliance and welcoming the Political Declaration. This includes at several UN Security Council open debates on the protection of civilians in armed conflict 5, including in 2024 when it expressed deep concern about the use and humanitarian consequences of explosive weapons in populated areas ‘which has significant civilian impact and should thus be restricted and avoided’6 as well as at the 2022 UN Security Council open debate on war in cities where the EU expressed concern over the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas, including near hospitals, schools, and universities 7 and at the UN General Assembly’s First Committee. 8

Malta aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitment to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ in its national capacity and as an EU member state. This included the commitment “to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.” 9 

In 2018 and 2019, Malta joined some 50 and 71 states respectively to endorse joint statements on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas at the UN General Assembly First Committee, calling attention to the devastating and long-lasting humanitarian impact of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and urging states to reverse the trend of high levels of civilian harm. 10  

Implementation of the Political Declaration

In February 2024, INEW and EWM conducted a survey into endorser states' national efforts to disseminate and implement the Political Declaration; and in May 2025 EWM conducted a second survey. 11 Responding to the 2025 survey, Malta reported that it has designated a focal point for overseeing efforts to implement the Declaration with its Disarmament Desk and has disseminated the Declaration to relevant ministries within government. 12

  1. Rafferty, J., Geyer, K., Acheson, R., 2021. ‘Report on the March 2021 consultations on a Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas’. Reaching Critical Will. 21 March 2021. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/15213-report-on-the-march-2021-consultations-on-a-political-declaration-on-the-use-of-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.

  2. Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. ‘Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas – Political Declaration Consultations, Day 1 Afternoon’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPllKWRMlNg.

  3. Acheson, R. 2022. ‘UN Security Council Debates War in Cities and the Protection of Civilians.’ Reaching Critical Will, 28 January 2022. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/16009-un-security-council-debates-war-in-cities-and-the-protection-of-civilians.

  4. United Nations Security Council. S/PV.9042. 25 May 2022. https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.9042(Resumption1).

  5. EU Statement - UN Security Council: Protection of Civilians’, 21 May 2024. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-new-york/eu-statement-%E2%80%93-un-security-council-protection-civilians_en?s=63; ‘EU Statement during the May 2011 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 10 May 2011.  http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/eu_poc_11may2011_0.pdf; ‘EU Statement during the June 2012 Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 25 June 2012. http://www.peacewomen.org/security-council/security-council-open-debate-protection-civilians-armed-conflict-june-2012/; ‘EU Statement during the August 2013 UN Security Council Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 19 August 2013. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/european_union_poc_august_2013_debate_0.pdf.

  6. EU Statement – UN Security Council: Protection of Civilians.’ Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 21 May 2024. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-new-york/eu-statement-%E2%80%93-un-security-council-protection-civilians_en?s=63. 

  7. Acheson, R. 2022. ‘UN Security Council Debates War in Cities and the Protection of Civilians.’ Reaching Critical Will, 28 January 2022. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/news/latest-news/16009-un-security-council-debates-war-in-cities-and-the-protection-of-civilians.

  8. ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 80th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 23 October 2025. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com25/statements/23Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 78th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 23 October 2023. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com23/statements/23Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 77th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 20 October 2022. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/20Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 76th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 4 October 2021.
    https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com21/statements/4Oct_EU.pdf; ‘EU Statement to the UN General Assembly 75th Session First Committee Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons’. Permanent Mission of the European Union to the United Nations. 9 October 2020.
    https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com20/statements/9Oct_EU.pdf. 

  9. Agenda for Humanity Archives, ‘Malta’. https://agendaforhumanity.org/stakeholder/127.html.

  10. ‘UNGA73 First Committee Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (explosive weapons in populated areas)’. Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations. 25 October 2018. .https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com18/statements/25Oct_explosive weapons in populated areas.pdf; ‘UNGA74 First Committee Joint Statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’. Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations. 24 October 2019. Available from https://article36.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNGA74-joint-statement-on-explosive-weapons-in-populated-areas.pdf; ‘Seventy-one States call for Action on Impact of Explosive Weapons in Joint Statement to UN General Assembly’. International Network on Explosive Weapons. October 2019.  https://www.inew.org/seventy-one-states-call-for-action-on-impact-of-explosive-weapons-in-joint-statement-to-un-general-assembly/.

  11.  To view all responses to the state surveys, see the Explosive Weapons Monitor 2023, Chapter III on Universalisation and Implementation of the Political Declaration and EWMs Assessment of Implementation of the Declaration (2025).

  12. Malta’s response to INEW’s State Survey on the Implementation of the Political Declaration, July 2025.

Other State Positions